Yamis Return
by Ser'ika-kohai
Summary: After the Ceremonial Duel, the hikaris are lifeless and the yamis feel empty. Can they get their true loves back from the afterlife? Puzzleshipping, Tendershipping, Darkshipping. Yaoi. Later a lemon. Rating has gone up for Malik's filthy mouth.
1. Chapter 1

**YAMIS RETURN**

Author's Note: OK, second fanfic attempt. Don't be too harsh with me! I'm hoping that this one will be a little more literate and way longer. Here goes! (I'm using half-and-half Japanese names and English names, just because.)

Summary: The yamis are called back from the spirit world by their hikaris, who have been miserable without them. MarikXMalik, BakuraXRyou, YamiXYugi. Minor IshizuXSeto, AnzuXJoey, and TristanXDuke.

* * *

Yugi pressed the glowing redial button on his cellphone for the fifth time, then hung up quickly. No. It was wrong. This was the way things were meant to be. The saying became a mantra in his head as the words lost their meaning. He repeated the redial-hang up-berate ritual a few more times for good measure, then switched his tact and called Malik instead.

"Yeah?" came the slightly bored voice. It seemed duller than before, but everything did now. "What?"

Yugi hesitated with what to say. "Does your sister answer her phone?" he blurted without thinking.

"'Course. Why?" _Damn._ It was going to be harder to resist calling the older Ishtar now that Yugi knew.

"Oh, I see. You miss him." Malik finally guessed after a few moments of silence from the shorter one's end.

Yugi drew breath, intending to yell how of course he missed him, but Malik continued. "Yeah. Me too. Well, see you, Yugi."

The other end clicked, and Yugi found himself listening to the dial tone for a minute or two. So, it wasn't just him that desperately wished for the company of his yami. Malik's voice sounding duller wasn't just the normal colourless feel of the present world. The emptiness he felt was common.

It didn't make him feel any different. It didn't make him feel anything.

He hadn't been able to feel. Not since he left.

Yugi had been making aborted calls to Ishizu Ishtar since Yami had left, hoping beyond hope that with her magical connection to ancient Egypt, she could bring him back. But he told himself that it was how it was supposed to be, that Yami had had to leave because he had served his purpose in this world and deserved to go to the next one, and that it was his own duty to let go.

Yugi didn't believe a word of it.

Sighing, he lay down on the covers, and fell asleep, watching the sun rise slowly.

* * *

Yami trailed his hand through the lazy waters of the Nile, looking around. He did this every single day, this routine float down the Nile in his own private luxury boat, sometimes with Mahad. The afterlife was everything he could have wished for, everything he had ever dreamed.

Yeah, right.

The afterlife was missing one thing, and that was why he floated down the Nile each day. To search for the one thing that could make his eternity utter perfection.

Yugi.

Ra, Yami missed him. The innocence in his large violet eyes, the childishly high voice, the sweetness of his loveable demeanor. Mana provided childish behaviour, that was true, and admittedly she was quite sweet, but Yami ignored her advances.

Yami didn't like girls.

He didn't want to come clean about being gay, because he knew he was probably alone in it, but he didn't want to pretend to be together with Mana just to discourage it. So he spent his days in solitude, or with Mahad, floating down the Nile, searching for the one thing he couldn't find.

His hikari, his koi.

His Yugi.

* * *

AN: Okay, this one was really short. BUT, I meant it to be like that. The next chapter will be Ryou's and Bakura's points of view, and after that will be Malik's and Marik's.

Japanese Words:

koi-love

yami (not capitalized)-the darker half of a soul [literally darkness]

hikari-the lighter half of a soul [literally light]

One more thing…

Can someone PLEASE tell me what AU means? I can't find it anywhere!

That's all.

Review and you get a cookie and your choice of plushie character!


	2. Chapter 2

**YAMIS RETURN**

Author's Note: Don't expect updates as quick as this all the time. I probably won't have time for many. Anywho, on with it!

* * *

To say he was a neat freak was an extreme understatement.

Everything in the room was white. The pillows, the walls, the curtains, the bed, and the boy. Ryou's neatness was reaching an OCD level.

Even if you looked closely, everything was white. The fluorescent lamps in every corner made sure that shadows were microscopic, if existent. The covering for the TV – which was never watched – was made entirely from meticulously taped pieces of paper, which got replaced if they were spotted. His main diet was vanilla ice cream, mashed potatoes, and jicama, a strange white vegetable that he'd found when at the grocery store in his all-white outfit.

Ryou's obsession with the colour white was a useless attempt to keep himself from remembering anything associated with darkness. Namely, a certain yami.

It didn't work.

The white on everything only made him think of his yami's flawless pale skin, his wild pearly hair, his ferocious snowy grin. Not of light, but back to darkness. It was becoming hysteria.

It was worse at night. The landlord of his tiny apartment building had complained of keeping the painfully bright lights on during the evening hours, and Ryou was not in a position where he could adjust if thrown out of the building. The shadows crept back into the room at night, and with them, the nightmares.

Bakura appeared in all of them. They were never happy. But then, when have nightmares ever been happy? The dreams usually showed Bakura being killed, or killing himself, or killing Ryou, or the other way around. Sometimes it was Ryou who died. Those were the worst. Not because of the death, but because of the expression on Bakura's face. Happiness. The only trace of happiness in those twisted visions.

These nightmares were awful for another reason. Ryou had started to sleepwalk. Sometimes he found himself just laying on the floor, curled into a ball. Sometimes he was holding a knife. Sometimes the knife was already in action.

The boy in question was asleep now, as the sun was rising over Domino. But he wasn't in bed. No, it was one of the nightmares that had made him get out of bed, and get a knife. The knife was in action.

As Bakura smiled, a smile that would have made Ryou happy just to see his yami happy in any other scenario, was making him do this.

When Ryou awoke, he was very shocked to see red staining his perfect white world. A message written on the white wallpaper, written in Ryou's own blood.

What it said was surprising.

'Everyone has a demon. Everyone has a true love. I have both in one form. Happiness embodied within despair. Much like hell.'

* * *

"RA DAMMIT! ACCURSED THING! DIE IN OBLIVION!" Bakura shrieked in an animalistic tone. The game controller disappeared into the Shadow Realm, and the panting man felt slightly better. Yes, Bakura was playing videogames. In the ancient Egyptian afterlife.

There was a reason for that. It turns out that all of Bakura's relatives – the ones that had been sacrificed to make the Millenium Items – weren't in the afterlife. Their very souls had been trapped in Kul Elna, unable to pass on. Bakura had no desire to meet Ryou's mundane relatives, or spend eternity with Marik, so he resigned himself to playing videogames. Violent ones.

Usually, this ended in frustration and him destroying the game controller in some nasty way. Throwing it into the Nile had worked well, and dropping it from the tallest tower in the palace had been fun, but those pissed off Yami. And as much as he loved to piss off Yami, it got dull. So, he satisfied himself with banishing them to the Shadow Realm, or letting Marik hack them into little pieces and burning them.

Besides, it all returned to the same dilemma.

When was Ryou going to hurry up and die so he could have some company?

Sometimes he was able to oversee Ryou's dreams. That was dreadful most of the time, because he was getting killed or Ryou was. But he didn't fight his own attackers, because it made him unable to see Ryou as much as he would have liked. He did try to defeat Ryou's attackers, but he often couldn't move. So he smiled helplessly, frozen in place, as he watched Ryou be murdered before his eyes, always staring at him with a betrayed look on his beautiful face.

He could never tell the boy that he loved him. It wasn't in his nature.

Bakura sighed, and went back to his videogames, before realizing that he would have to go find another controller. "Shit."

* * *

AN: I think I made Bakura pretty in-character, and I left Ryou asleep so I wouldn't have to be him. I'm bad at being Ryou. -_- I liked this chapter more than the other one. Review and you get a chocolate cake shaped like a hikariXyami couple!


	3. Chapter 3

**YAMIS RETURN**

Author's Note: Ok, I'm bored, so I'm actually writing this at about 2 in the morning. Inspired by one reviewer that reviewed about four seconds after I posted the fic.

Hidden Page: I LOVE YOU. That AU thing has been bothering me forever. Glad you like the story. ^.^ It's totally not my best work, but writing's my favourite hobby. This chapter's for you!

* * *

Malik snapped the phone shut on Yugi, looked at the small piece of machinery for a while, then threw it as hard as he could against the wall. It fell in several pieces to the floor. Ishizu would be pissed; that was the fourth random thing he'd broken that week. Malik himself was pissed – Marik could have dented the wall. Ra, he missed his yami. Once he got over the whole 'destroying the pharoah' thing – which was, actually, his fault – he was an amazing person. To Malik, at least.

Yes, Marik was amazing. The entire episode with trying to kill Yami, he'd admitted, was because he thought it would please Malik. They'd only had a few moments together before Marik got banished to the Shadow Realm by Yami, which really got Malik going. He kept a poker face, though, and when Yami and Bakura passed on, asked if Marik could join them. A very surprised Marik appeared in thin air, fresh from the Shadow Realm, and had enough time to passionately kiss Malik for about two nanoseconds before he passed through the doorway to the afterlife.

Since that kiss, Malik was unable to stop thinking about the insane Egyptian. His crazy expressions, his booming voice, his irresistible lips… They constantly plagued his mind. He was tempted, like Yugi, to call Ishizu and ask if there was any way for the yamis to be brought back from the afterlife, so that he and Marik could be together. It would be nice to have someone even crazier than he was around to cause mayhem with.

Malik decided that yes, he would call his sister, and ask if there was a hope in the world of bringing back the companions of himself, Yugi, and Ryou.

Then he remembered the broken phone. "Damn."

* * *

Marik giggled hysterically as he watched the squirrel. Yes, he had found a squirrel in Egypt. This particular squirrel was emitting a very high squeak while running around, trying to put out the fire on the bushy tail behind it. Marik had every intention of saving it, just… not yet. And maybe it would need to be put out of it's misery anyway. It would give him a good excuse to slice something open.

The squirrel's fur caught his attention. Light ashy blonde, like sand, or tea. Or Malik.

The psychotic yami heaved a pouty sigh and lobbed the unfortunate creature into the Nile. It landed on the pharoah's boat, which was passing nearby. An infuriated yell reached Marik, and he nearly grinned. But he had thought of Malik, so he couldn't.

His Malik, his little twin. He had only had enough time to explain why he had done all the bad things and boldly tell him that they were meant to be together before getting whisked to the Shadow Realm. And even less time when he was getting sent to the afterlife, though it was much more fulfilling. He gave Malik the best kiss of his life and suddenly felt himself being pulled away. It was all very dramatically romantic.

But now Marik was tired of waiting. How long would it be before he got to see his little light again? Not until Malik died? That would be dreary. He made an impossible resolution on the spot. He would see Malik within a week. Marik, deep in completely mental plans, went to go find 'Kura to help.

* * *

Well, this one disappointed me a bit. It's really hard writing them without anyone there, because there's no dialogue or anything. But having Marik light a squirrel on fire was fun. The next one will be the meeting of the yamis, at the same time as the meeting of the hikaris. Ishizu may or may not be dragged into all this. I PROMISE that the next chapter will be over 1000 words. And I promise not to cheat by counting the author's note!


	4. Chapter 4

**YAMIS RETURN**

Author's Note: Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I haven't been able to update for so long because I got a really bad report card and mom was pissed off, so she banned me from computer. If she knew I was writing a trashy smut fic, you'd never see me again. . Anyhoo, I'm back for the fic. And the fic must go on! Every review I get leads to a new chapter, and I got not one but THREE reviews, FOUR total. Holy shit. Seriously. Ok, to my reviewers:

Hidden Pages: No, you aren't a bad person unless I'm pretty much Satan, because I thought it was effing HILARIOUS. I should make him torture more stuff. Then again, I came up with that at about two am, so… I might just be insane. Oh well. Love ya!

Cheetahkit: Thanks! OK, now I'm going to go crazy over whether it's Author's Universe or Alternate Universe. LOL. THANKS FOR THE REVIEW!

Aurora Hargreaves: THANK YOOOU! Man, I'm never gonna get used to this. The next chapter is up...now!

Thanks also to **tinkletimekelly, SilverDragon-Purity, **and** Panguins-in-America-Oh-my, **plus **Aurora Hargreaves, Hidden Page, **and **cheetahkit **for doing something fancy with the story that sent me an email, even if I'm not sure what it is. I love you guys!

* * *

Yugi awoke to the sound of his phone ringing. For one foolishly hopeful moment, he thought it might be Ishizu calling to tell him that yes, it was possible to bring Yami back, and tried to get out of bed too fast. By the time he got untangled from the covers, the phone had stopped buzzing. He cursed and looked in the 'missed calls' menu, finding that it was Ryou who had been calling, not Ishizu.

Stifling a disappointed sigh, he called the number. Ryou picked up on the first ring. "Yugi? Come to Malik's place right away. It's urgent!"

"Chill, Ry!" Yugi commanded, rubbing his eyes. "Why are you at Malik's? Is there something I should know?"

"It's about our darknesses! Do hurry!" whined the British boy, making Yugi's heart do a triple flip inside him. Before he could ask again, Ryou had hung up. Stupid limey.

* * *

Yugi was dressed and out the door within five minutes, not bothering to brush his hair or check what he was wearing. Grabbing the keys to his motorcycle from his jacket pocket, he navigated the red and purple machine through the garage doors of the apartment at the back of the Kame Game Shop and sped toward the Ishtars' house.

Ryou and Malik were sitting on the couches of the Ishtars' living room, getting upset looks from most of the people sitting nearby. Ishizu looked disapproving because Ryou was leaking blood onto the sofa and wouldn't let her bandage it. Seto looked mad because Ishizu was distressed. Anzu looked despairing because she had called them all together, and was very worried about the three hikaris. Joey was angry because Anzu had made him skip breakfast to go to Malik's house, and he was contemplating tugging on his girlfriend's short brown hair in revenge. Tristan looked mad because Duke refused to kiss him because it was a 'serious situation.' The only one who didn't seem upset was Odion, and he was expressionless all the time, so it didn't matter.

The doorbell rang. Malik fidgeted. Ryou got up, meaning to answer the tolling bell, but was pushed down by Ishizu, who hissed at him about his 'injury.' Soon, Yugi let himself in, silently blinking at the silent room before him.

After a minute or so, Malik flopped back on the cushions impatiently. "Ok, he's here, let the intervention begin." Ishizu gave him a dirty look, and motioned to Anzu to start.

Anzu took a deep breath. "Listen, Yugi, Malik, especially you Ryou. We're worried about you. You haven't seemed the same lately."

Yugi stiffened before walking over and sitting next to Malik. "What exactly are you talking about?" He took this guarded, too-casual tone whenever anyone brought up him. And it was a dead giveaway.

Seto made an impatient noise and took hold of Ryou's injured arm, ignoring the small whimper of pain. "Look. He used this," holding up a bloodied paintbrush, "to write a message in blood on his wall. This is madness!"

"This is Sparta," Joey muttered.

"Can it, mutt," Kaiba growled. "Yugi, you were up all night making phone calls to Ishizu. It kept her – and me – awake until 5:30. Even if you hang up right after, it rings! And Malik, I don't even have to talk about you." He pointed to the corner in explanation. There was a heap of destroyed objects sitting there, trying to look innocent. They didn't succeed, especially since they were all clearly Malik's work.

Malik flipped Seto off, which made Ryou give him a disapproving look. "I would really appreciate it if you guys just let us be. It's only natural to miss them," he murmured in his adorable accent.

"Yeah!" burst out Malik. "We don't want or need your help! In fact-"

"I found a way to get them back." Ishizu cut Malik off in a voice which, despite being soft, filled the whole room.

There was silence for a moment.

Finally, Yugi stood up. "Bring them back. I don't care what the cost is, just do it! Now!" His hysterical voice paired with the other hikaris's frantic nodding convinced Ishizu. The place where the yamis needed to be was back on earth, among the living. She closed her eyes in concentration, sending this thought to her ancient lookalike.

* * *

"MARIK!" Marik sniggered.

"Yeah, your highness?" he said mockingly. Aknankanon was pissed again. Marik had been discovered slicing all of Mana's clothes into even more revealing costumes. Not that he was looking at her, or anything. But her skin tone was remarkably close to Malik's...

"And another thing- Marik are you listening to what I'm saying?"

Marik looked up at the former pharoah with an evil leer. "No."

Aknankanon fumed. "Well, I was going to tell you what Isis saw of your maniacal little friend, but now I don't think you deserve it."

The man was on the ground in seconds, with a knife poking into a very tender spot on his personage. "Tell me what Malik said, or Pharoah Junior gets it," snarled a suddenly-sinister voice. Marik's eyes were mere inches away from Aknankanon's own, and he looked like he was furious, excited, and anticipatory at the same time. The pharoah's answer was just a whimper.

"Lay off him, Marik," intoned another man lazily. "He's too scared to tell you." Bakura pulled the other yami from the former pharoah. "Isis has news. Let's go."

"Okay, Kura-chan." Marik was instantly the model of good behaviour again. That is, until he turned around and flipped off Aknankanon.

When the two yamis got down to the afterworld palace, both Isis and Yami were already there, along with Mana, Mahad, and Seth. Yami was sitting stonily in his throne while Mana chattered at him. Mahad stood at his side. Seth was talking to Isis, his wife.

Marik immediately saw Mana (in her only remaining undamaged clothing), cackled insanely, and sat down with an evil grin. Bakura idly kicked at a stone, sending it flying at Mahad, who dodged it with a stern look.

"So," Bakura started, "what did you see now, Isis?" He sounding vaguely interested, but there was an undercurrent of genuine and fervent inquisitiveness. Marik leaned forward in sudden attentiveness.

Isis touched her millenium necklace thoughtfully - it turns out, everyone who ever had a millenium item gets a copy of it in the afterlife - and opened her mouth to speak. Yami looked up hopefully.

"My modern twin, Ishizu, has found a way to bring you all back to her time. But, she needed me to get your confirmation before she can activate it. Do you all want to see your lighter halves again?" She looked to Yami first.

"Certainly and undoubtedly," he replied without hesitation.

Bakura followed suit. "Yep, me too. It'll be good to see that gorgeous Ryou again."

Marik's answer was to cackle manically and mutter something about chains.

Isis closed her eyes, sending a telepathic message to Ishizu. 'They have consented. Go forth with the plan.'

* * *

Whew! Ok, now I'm going to bed. See y'all!

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Hello, dah-lings. I was so fabulously impressed that anyone actually still read this! So, without further crap from me, here are your thank yous!

Aurora Hargreaves: Thank _you_, dah-ling. I will keep going! It's reviewers like all of you that keep me going on this!

tinkletimekelly: Thanks to you as well, and your update is here! (dun dun dun duuun!)

consumedbylove: He is! I love writing Marik, it lets me vent all of my insanity. And Ryou wrote something, I can't really remember right now, but it's around the middle of chapter two or three, I think. Sorry. It's just really late at night and I want to write this up so I can sleep. I love your username!

And thanks much also to Idril Nenharma, our newest favouriter.

Ooh! I forgot to tell you guys! This chapter was inspired by my boyfriend, Marcus, who just emailed me from Hawaii. I'll tell you about him at the footnote, okay?

* * *

Yugi tapped impatiently on the arm of the sofa while Ishizu closed her eyes and pressed her temples, concentrating hard. Malik took a piece of paper from the ground and began shredding it. Ryou squealed and snatched it up, complaining that it was a memoir of Bakura. Yugi saw that it was a carelessly scrawled note saying 'Ryou, I'm going out to find a small animal for dinner. Don't look for me, and for Ra's sake don't lecture me on animal rights again. It's _my_ right to kill them, and their right to run around for a while after I break their limbs. Bakura.' Ryou clutched it to his chest lovingly, smoothing the torn corner.

Seto looked at them irritably, wanting to tell them off for making noise, but Ishizu opened her eyes and smiled.

Malik leaned back, and asked rudely, "Now that we're done with whatever the hell that bit of meditation was, can we know what the fuck is going on?"

"Malik!" Ryou blushed. "Language!"

"Fuck that! I can say whatever the fuck I want whenever the fuck I want to, so fuck you!" Malik snapped scathingly. Ryou squeaked and covered his ears, and Yugi rolled his eyes.

Ishizu looked disapproving, but the serenely happy expression never left her face. "To answer your question, Malik, I was contacting Isis to get confirmation that the yamis want to return. It is crucial to the plan."

A kind of awful dread welled up inside Yugi. He knew that Marik would return for Malik, and most likely Bakura for Ryou, but what about Yami? His mission had ended when he lost the duel with Yugi. He had no reason to come back. Yugi had never told him how he felt, and he was probably happy in the afterlife. This was precisely why Ishizu's next words surprised him out of his hopeless state.

"Yugi, you'll be happy to hear that the pharoah responded with a resounding assent. Ryou, Bakura wishes very much to see you again as well. Malik, Marik just cackled and muttered something about bondage, but we took that as a yes. Congratulations, all of you. You are going to see your yamis again!"

The cry of joy could be heard several houses over, and a cat was scared across the street. Ryou immediately burst into tears of joy and buried his face into the hem of Ishizu's dress, thanking her. Malik gave a loud whoop and threw a cellphone that had been sitting on the coffee table through the big window overlooking the street, getting told off by Seto, the owner of the phone. The only response from Yugi was to sit frozen on the sofa, stunned into a silence that could only be interpreted as pure glee from the expression on his face, like he had discovered that Christmas was coming three days in a row.

"So, now that that's over and done with," asked Joey, annoyed, "when the hell are we eating?"

* * *

Isis sat down, exhausted by the telepathic connection with Ishizu. Seth rushed to support his wife. Marik giggled, saying, "Worried she'll be too tired for a wild night, Sethy-boy?"

Seto's ancient twin looked confused. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Marik."

"Sure you don't," Bakura said, examining his nails. "So, Isis, what was the answer?"

The ebony-haired woman blinked, proclaiming happily, "Your hikaris are ecstatic at your consent, and the plan will begin immediately." Marik cheered.

Yami touched Isis's arm in gratitude, wondering aloud, "If there is anything we can do to make the crossing over easier..."

"Just one thing," Isis told him. "When the time comes, you need to concentrate on your lighter halves as hard as you can, making sure to think about their essence rather than just their appearance. And the time is nearly here. We must go to the throne room."

All of the Egyptians followed Isis as Seth helped her toward the throne room in the luxurious palace, Marik and Bakura walking together, Mahad and Mana flanking Yami. All of the yamis were thinking the same thing; they were going to see their hikaris again - it was nearly time.

* * *

Well! The filler is finally over! Next chapter they're finally going to do something. Not each other yet, but something, at least. So, telling you about my boyfriend! Let's see...

He's dark-haired, dark-eyed, pale, and GORGEOUS. He's really smart, and we officially got together at the school dance, which he asked me to two months in advance (because I got asked by two other guys afterwards, and he's the jealous type). He got me a beautiful corsage, and I kissed him, which made him blush a whole lot. He's my favourite person in the world outside my family. I luff him so. ^.^

Anyhoo, enough about Marcus. See you guys next chapter, when they do something that is not each other!


End file.
